Connor The Crusher Is Going into the Hall of Fame

The newest WWE Hall of Famer in happier times Photo via WPIX/Pittsburgh

The WWE Hall of Fame is the idea that has set off a thousand thinkpieces, but one inductee who should elicit zero debate₁ is the first recipient of The Warrior Award, just announced last night. Connor "The Crusher" Michalek, the young devotee of Daniel Bryan who succumbed to pediatric brain cancer shortly after WrestleMania XXX last year, will posthumously be honored by WWE at this year's Hall of Fame ceremony. Michalek was only eight years old when his tumultuous journey through life came to a halt, but he touched so many people, including Bryan, Stephanie McMahon, and millions of WWE fans around the world.

Below is the tribute video WWE aired last night on RAW. Bryan, McMahon, and Triple H may not have had the cure for cancer, but they made Michalek's life as awesome as they could possibly have in his waning hours. Wrestling can be a cruel business, and the people within it can be cold, callous, and terrible at times, but at other times, they can be living saints.


1 - "Should" is the operative word, because according to Dylan Hales, people exist who are pissed at Michalek's induction because he's going in before [REDACTED]. I shouldn't be surprised that people who pine for a child murderer to be honored would shit on a child getting in, but it's no less enraging.